Willamette Lawyer | Fall 2012 Vol. XII, No. 2

Last fall, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber announced he would no longer carry out executions, saying that Oregonians need to have a statewide conversation about the DEATH PENALTY. Steven Krasik JD’79 has that conversation every day.

Outside the Law
Childhood, Revisited
Wade Moller’s fondest memories of his childhood in Seattle
were his family’s weekly visits to an Italian restaurant. So when
he grew up, he opened one of his own.
Five minutes before the annual block party
was scheduled to begin, the skies looked
ominous. The chefs at Cantinetta had spent
the day prepping the platters of antipasti, tomatoes and pasta; the residents of Seattle’s
upscale Wallingford neighborhood had
started streaming in, anticipating the free
food. Kids in Hello Kitty pajamas mingled
with women in high heels.
The drizzle turned into a steady rain, but
that didn’t faze Wade Moller BS’96, JD’00,
Cantinetta’s co-owner. He strode in, accepting handshakes and shoulder clasps,
clearly in his element. Moller is an attorney
for Weyerhaeuser by day, but in his off time
he runs the restaurant. It’s a change from
conference calls and corporate boardrooms,
but he loves it.
42 | Willamette Lawyer
“You don’t see a lot of unhappy people in the
restaurant world,” Moller said. “They’re not
going to retire at 52 and have a fancy house
on the water, but they sure get the most out
of every day.”
Moller met his business partner, Trevor
Greenwood, in high school when both
worked as maintenance men at the Mercer
Island Beach Club. They bonded over
broken lawn mowers, then kept in touch
as each pursued different careers. Moller,
a philosophy major at Willamette, got a law
degree and worked at Washington Mutual
before landing at Weyerhaeuser. Greenwood
worked management jobs at the iconic
Seattle restaurants Queen City Grill and Via
Tribunali. Wouldn’t it be cool to open a restaurant someday? they’d ask each other.